"I hope you are right." I forced myself to take a bite of bread.
The door opened, and my whole body tensed, but it was just a group of cadets, and Kailin wasn't among them. They were talking loudly about tomorrow's tactical exam, but then they glanced our way, and their conversation faltered for a moment before they hurried to a table on the far side of the hall.
"What's wrong with them?" I muttered. "They are practically shunning us."
Shovia shook her head. "We might as well have plague signs hanging around our necks."
Despite the warm welcome Kailin had received when she'd returned from the visit home, the other cadets had been giving our entire group a wide berth. In the corridors, conversations stopped when we passed, and the tables nearest to ours were conspicuously empty.
"They are scared of her," Morek said.
"I don't think that's the reason." I put the half-eaten piece of bread on my plate. "They feel inferior. Up until a week ago, she was just like them, and now she is someone special. The Hero of Elucia."
"The saver of cities," Codric said with false cheer. "Dreamer of prophecies, maker of everyone else feeling inadequate."
I let out a breath. "She didn't ask for any of this. She hates it."
"We should do something about it." Shovia's expression was thoughtful. "Or we can just embrace it and act like the queen and kings of this drakking place."
"I can do that." Codric wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I know how to act royal."
I was busy glaring at him when the door opened again, and this time it was Kailin.
Relief flooded through me so intensely that I was tempted to jump up and run to her, but that would embarrass her, and she was already having a hard time with how the other cadets were treating her.
She smiled and waved while taking a tray and starting to load it.
I shifted over slightly, ensuring she saw the space I'd saved beside me.
When she was done collecting her meal, she made her way over, her tray laden with what looked like double portions of everything.
"The session ran long," she said, sliding onto the bench beside me. Her thigh pressed against mine, warm and reassuring.
"Did he teach you evasive maneuvers?" Shovia asked.
"Mostly." Kailin attacked her food with a single-minded focus, and I wondered whether she was that hungry or just trying to regain lost energy. "I guess you got the same training?"
Shovia nodded. "They want to make sure that we can dodge anything the Shedun might throw at us. After the assassination attempt, they are stepping up the training."
"Speaking of training," Codric said, lowering his voice and leaning forward. "Did you ask Commander Ravel about you-know-who?"
She nodded.
"And?" he prompted.
"He says that the-you-know-who were not at fault. Each rider is responsible for checking the equipment before mounting, so if a saddle was not secured properly, it was the rider's fault."
"Yeah," Shovia said. "My instructor said the same thing."
Kailin's fork paused halfway to her mouth. "You asked her about them? Are you crazy? What if she or her dragon is complicit? We don't know who to trust!"
"I was subtle about it." Shovia looked a little sheepish. "I told my instructor that I'd heard rumors about certain dragons being bad luck, and I wanted to know which ones to avoid during the Day of Volition."
"I used a similar line," Morek said. "Everyone is nervous before meeting the unbonded dragons. The decision of who to bond with is more important than marriage. You can end a marriage, but you cannot break the bond with your dragon unless one of you dies."
Shaking her head, Kailin turned to Codric. "What about you? Did you ask your instructor as well?"
My cousin had the grace to look even more sheepish than Shovia. "I might have been a bit more direct. I asked Lieutenant Harrin straight out if it was true that Syltharion had lost four riders to accidents."
